Over 250 members of South Floridas bioscience community gathered recently for one day to learn about new projects and partnership opportunities in our region. Dubbed Bench to Bedside: South Florida Partnerships in Research & Medicine, the conference was produced by the Enterprise Development Corporation of South Florida (EDC) and hosted by Nova Southeastern University.
Conference sessions addressed one of todays key challenges in developing new drug therapies and diagnostic and device products: the ability to seamlessly take research from the lab to clinical testing. South Florida research and clinical institutions, together with industry, are streamlining this process to closely align the development, testing and refining processes, and the conference focused on innovative ways that South Florida is addressing this challenge and bringing new products to the market. Highlights of the day included a keynote address by Dr. John Falletta, Chairman of Duke University Medical Centers Institutional Review Board, who discussed how to balance new drug development with patient safety; special guest speaker Dr. Andrew Schally, Nobel Prize Winner 1977 who discussed his pioneering work in the use of hormones for cancer therapy; and Joseph Johnson, Sr. Vice President Nabi Biopharmaceuticals, who enlightened the audience on how to determine if your company is ready for its biomedical breakthrough. Sessions on how to work effectively with the FDA, and determining the value of your intellectual property were also offered. “EDC is pleased to organize this conference each year to provide a venue for networking and new business development among members of South Floridas bioscience community,” stated Jane Teague, Executive Director of EDC. We also want to thank Nova Southeastern University and the leadership of Dr. George Hanbury for enabling us to bring the conference to NSU this year.”